While installing a new carpet kit on my 80 coupe I found both right and left floor pan seams seperated at the lower front seam. They seem to be "glued" together and not welded. The front part of the pan on the drivers side is fiberglass. On both sides it looks like the glue has gave way. The rest of the pan looks good and solid. No rust anywhere, even where the seams came apart. How do I fix it?

The fiberglass and metal are riveted together at the seam and a glue is also there. When I replaced my floor pans I used Evercoat epoxy in the seam and stainless steel screws to pull it together. The screws were easier than buying a rivet gun. I used stainless washers and nuts and after the epoxy dried I just used a grinder to grind the screw off level with the nut. You may want to add a coat of seam sealer (eastwood sells this) to the seams to seal off any old sealer thats brittle. The epoxy is Evercoat MAXIM MEDIUM SET EPOXY ADHESIVE bonding 813. I used a caulking gun to apply it. The other brands require a special applicator gun. My build link is at the bottom and if you look through it you can see where I did this. If you choose to go the rivet route be careful not to pull the rivet through the fiberglass. I am assuming the 80 vettes are built like the 76 vettes. You can take a putty knife and spread the epoxy when the two surfaces are squeezed together. If some of the epoxy is hanging out the bottom of the car it grinds easily after drying. You could also use wedges to spread the metal away from the fiberglass to apply the epoxy. One more thing you will need to drill out the old rivets in order to do this. Mark

Looked at you build link this morning and got to say man you took on one heck of a build. All the pictures are great. The work looks excellent. Glad to say that my floor pans are in much better shape. I need a bandaide compared to what you had to work with. I guess its the difference between a California car and back east car. Thanks for your reply, its most helpful.

Do you have the assembly instruction manual (A(M)? The AIM shows how the floor pans were riveted and bonded to the cowl, down to, and including, how much bonding agent/sealer was to be applied to the joint.

If you are not getting weather in the car, you're probably okay leaving the unbonded areas as they are. What you see inside the car is only one side of the joint. Check the joint from under the car.

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the Corvette Forum : DigitalCorvettes.com Corvette Forums forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name (12 CHARACTERS MAXIMUM), your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

The AutoGuide.com network consists of the largest network of enthusiast-owned enthusiast-operated automotive communities.

AutoGuide.com provides the latest car reviews, auto show coverage, new car prices, and automotive news. The AutoGuide network operates more than 100 automotive forums where our users consult peers for shopping information and advice, and share opinions as a community.